Labor Cost Rate Entry Form

Labor Cost Rate Entry Form

To open the Labor Cost Rate Entry form, click Setup in the shortcut or drop-down menu, then click on Lists, then click on Labor Cost Rates.

The Labor Cost Rate form allows you to create Labor Cost Rates. Labor Cost Rates are used in the Employee entry form, Resource entry form, and in the Edit Job Estimate form.

Labor Cost Rates are used to define total labor cost estimates used in job cost estimating. Note that these are not labor wages, but the estimated total labor costs (per hour), including taxes, insurance, benefits, etc., for various types of labor.

You can assign a Labor Cost Rate to each employee in the Employee entry form.

If the job is a Prevailing Wage job, you can assign a Labor Cost Rate to job items in the prompt for Prev. Wage Rate in the Edit Job Estimate form. This will override employee's labor cost rates. Check the Prevailing Wage Job prompt in the Edit Job form to indicate that the job is a Prevailing Wage job. See How Do I... Use Prevailing Wage Rates? for more information.

When you assign a Labor Cost Rate to an employee, the rate is used to compute the estimated labor cost when you select the employee in the prompt for Resource in the Edit Job Estimate form.

Aside from the standard prompts available on all forms, the Labor Cost Rate entry form has the following prompts:

Labor Cost Rate:

Enter the name of the Labor Cost Rate.

Short Name:

Enter an abbreviated name for the Labor Cost Rate. This is used in places where there is not enough room to display the full name.

Estimated Cost Rate:

Enter the estimated total labor costs (per hour), including taxes, insurance, benefits, etc. for this Labor Cost Rate.

Update Estimate:

If you change the amount of a labor cost rate for employees that have already been assigned to items in a job, select that job to update the estimated labor costs.

When you change the amount of a labor cost rate, the new rate will only apply the next time you assign employees to a job item.

If you want to update labor cost rates for items in an existing job, then select that job in this prompt, and click OK. The program will ask if you are sure you want to update the estimated labor cost rates for the (number of) items in the job selected. Click Yes to update the labor cost rates in the job selected.

Actual Cost Rates:

The Actual Cost Rate grid allows you to enter a separate labor cost rate for each payroll item. These are actual labor cost rates that will be used in determining your actual labor costs when you enter labor hours in the Labor Hours entry form.

If you are using QuickBooks Integration, the list of payroll items comes from QuickBooks. If you are not using QuickBooks Integration, the list of payroll items is pre-defined by Smart Contractor.